Elective Surgery Waiting List — methodology

What this metric measures

Median waiting time in weeks from listing to admission for elective (planned) surgery in public hospitals.

Why it matters: Elective surgery wait times directly affect quality of life — patients waiting for hip replacements, cataract surgery, or cardiac procedures experience ongoing pain, disability, and anxiety.

Source & provenance

Publisher

AIHW

Update frequency

annual

Licence

CC BY 4.0

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How the score is computed

The score is a 0–100 normalisation of the latest observation, compared to a baseline window. The traffic-light rating (RAG) reflects both the absolute level and the recent trend.

Direction

Lower is better

Trend window

120 months

Baseline

Last 10 years

{
  "red_min_pct_of_baseline": 110,
  "amber_max_pct_of_baseline": 110,
  "green_max_pct_of_baseline": 95
}